


Charm Bracelet Crisis: Trigger Happy Havoc

by literallyepsilon



Category: Dangan Ronpa, Persona 5, crossover - Fandom
Genre: M/M, Multi, shuakeshu big bang! yay !!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-05-20 22:12:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14903054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literallyepsilon/pseuds/literallyepsilon
Summary: alternatively: too gay too deadThree groups of high school students get trapped in an all too real killing game. As they fight to find an exit, will the truth eventually reveal itself? And would they even want to know?





	1. beginning

_ “Good morning, everyone! It’s time to start another wonderful round of everybody’s favorite killing game, Dangan Ronpa!” _

Eyes colored grey flashed open, and Akira Kurusu sat up, rubbing his aching head. Slowly standing to his feet, he found himself in a classroom, with dark red walls, and a whiteboard hanging slightly crooked on the wall closest to him. He blinked, trying to get used to the lack of light.

Last he remembered -- actually, he didn’t remember anything. He closed his eyes, searching through his mind. Surely, there had to be something. Surely, there had to be something else he was missing. He ran a pale hand through his hair. Slowly, he found his mind clearing enough to think properly.

The last thing he remembered was entering school gates, and coming into a hall. After that, everything was kind of blank, as if a fog was covering his vision.

Perhaps he could shed some light on that later.

“Hello?” An all too familiar voice echoed through the room, and Akira turned to the source of it, spotting familiar red eyes staring back at him. “You -- !“  
“Me?” Akira asked, pointing at himself.

Standing across from him was Goro Akechi, chair he was sitting in tipped back and clattering onto the floor. The crash echoed like a secret never meant to be heard.

Goro Akechi...a person he'd honestly never expected to see again. While he remembered him distantly, from a school he used to go to, from a town he used to be in, he never really knew him that well. Or..that would be what he would say to others.

To be honest, he and Akechi had a past he never wanted to bring up again, a romantic love story that would fit the pages of a trashy novella.

“How -- you -- “ Akechi stammered, at a loss for words. Akira just blinked at him. “What is this place?”  
“I don’t know,” Akira replied, as if that explained anything. “Reminds me of Shujin.”  
“We’re in a classroom, any class would remind you of Shujin.”

Before Akechi could say anymore, the loudspeakers blare to life, the static crackle making both their ears ache.

_ “Uh, hello? Testing, testing!”  _ the voice echoed. _ “Good evening! Please gather in the main hall for a briefing! Please gather in the main hall for a briefing! See you all very soon! Upupupu ~ “ _

The loudspeaker shut off, another crackle of static signalling the voice’s disappearance. Silence filled the room after that, as Akira glanced over at Akechi, who was clearly contemplating something.

“We should go, Akechi.” Akira said. “We wouldn’t want to be late.”  
“My head hurts,” was all Akechi said in response, but he followed him as they walked, rubbing his arm. “Do you even know where the main hall is?”  
"Sure I do," Akira said, having no idea where the main hall is. "Just follow me."  
"I swear, if we get lost..."

As they walked, Akira thought back to Akechi, and the fact he was here. Did he remember any more than him? As they walked through the dilapidated hallways, Akira’s mind ran with thoughts about their past, wondering why  _ him  _ of all people was here with him. 

“You’re going to run into the wall if you think too much, Kurusu-kun.”

Akira stopped in the middle of the hall, and Akechi covered his mouth to hide his laughter.

“Do you even know where you’re going?” Akechi asked. “We’ve gone this way three times already.”  
“We have? I haven’t noticed.”  
“Come on. I saw another pathway this way.”

Akechi’s hand on his arm was almost comforting. Almost.

The two of them arrived at the hall, pushing the heavy doors open to reveal several other people already standing there.

“Akira!” One of them yelled, and suddenly Akira had an armful of Ann Takamaki. Squeezing her tight, he smiled, spinning her around slightly. “Thank God you’re here! I thought we were alone!”  
“Hi, Ann.” Akira replied, smiling right back at her. “Okay, let me put you down.” 

Careful, he set the blonde back on her feet, and went to greet the rest of his friends, arms wide open for Ryuji’s hug, which nearly pummeled him to the ground. 

“I was so worried, bro!” Ryuji said, holding onto him. “Where were you? Futaba was actually in panic mode!”  
“Futaba’s here?” Gently pushing Ryuji off of him (he meant to be gentle, but the boy ended up rolling a couple feet away) he stood, searching for his adoptive sister. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Akira found his sister talking to another boy, one he’d never seen before. He had the type of face that you would see in the hallways of school, or on the streets, but never really remember. 

“Akira!” Futaba said, and clung to the other, relieved. “I’m so glad you’re here. This is Souji.”  
“Nice to meet you, Akira. Your sister told me all about you.” The grey haired boy bowed deeply, and Akira echoed it, bowing to the other. “Do you happen to know why we’re here?”  
“I can’t help you there,” Akira said. “Sorry.”  
“I see.” Souji touched his chin, concerned. “Thank you, anyway.”

As the other returned to his group of friends, Akira glanced over at Futaba. 

“You’re just going to tell my name to random strangers now?”  
“Well, Ryuji was yelling it first.”

As Akira’s eyes scanned over the hall, he recognized the rest of his friends nervously gathered in a bunch away from the others. It was easy to see a clique system happening — his friends on one side, and two different groups on the other. 

Souji was sitting in one group — he waved when Akira noticed him — and the other group was filled with unknown faces, though the boy with blue hair caught his eye. Smiling, the boy raised a hand as if to wave, only to be almost tipped over by his friends asking what that was about, whether he knew him. 

If he did, Akira honestly couldn’t remember.

As the hall finally fell into silence, the megaphones started up again.

“ _ Ahem, ahem...Mic test. Mic test. Can you all hear me? _ ”  
“What the fuck, dude!?” Ryuji yelled from where he was. “Where are we?”  
“ _ Alright, everyone can hear me, right? Well then…”  _ Another cough, rattling everyone with the sound. “ _ Welcome to Hope’s Peak Academy! I am your headmaster… _ ”

Another loud sound was echoing through the room, but it wasn’t a cough this time. The entire hall rumbled, causing Ryuji to fall over. Akechi, who had suddenly reappeared in Akira’s field of vision, held onto him. Futaba stuck her tongue out at him, wrapping her arms around his waist. Amused, Akira pet their heads gently. 

“Alright, alright. Calm down,” he said, as the rumbling came to a stop.

And to their surprise, from behind the podium, jumped a black and white plush cat. 

There was a long silence, before Ryuji burst into laughter, the rest joining a moment later. 

“Are you  _ effin’  _ kidding me?!” Ryuji said, bending over. “A -- stuffed toy -- ?”  
“I’m not a stuffed toy!” the cat replied, waving its arms. “I’m  _ Mononeko _ !”  
“I’m way too reminded of Teddie,” Souji said, covering his mouth to hide his own giggles. 

The only people unfazed by this were Akira, and Akechi, and the mysterious blue haired boy. He raised his hand, waiting for the laughter to die down.

“I’m Minato Arisato,” he began, “and stuffed toy aside -- “  
“I’m not a stuffed toy!”  
“ -- what exactly are we doing here?” Minato continued. “I have things to do, so it would be nice to go home.”  
“Well,” Mononeko said, bouncing slightly. “This is your home now.”  
“Oh,” Minato said. “Okay.”  
“Dude, how can you just accept that?!” his friend yelled, baseball cap tight over his head. “What do you mean that this is our home now!?”  
“We’re locked in here,” Akechi said. “Is that what you mean?”  
“Upupupu...you’re right, Akechi.”  
“How did you -- “  
“Like I said, I’m the headmaster here!” Mononeko bounced to his feet. “Here, everyone! Take one of these!”

Before the groups rose a table, with what looked like charm bracelets spread across the surface. Picking one up, another blue haired boy inspected it under the light.

“A charm bracelet?” he asked, and Mononeko laughed.  
“Not just any charm bracelet. I’ve labelled them with your names, so make sure to take the one that belongs to you, alright?”

Akira approached the table, eyes scanning the neat labels for his name. As he picked it up, the bracelet shone with a soft light. A single charm was hanging from the bracelet, in the shape of a strange top hat. Despite knowing nothing about it, innately, Akira knew there was some kind of power in it.

“Cool,” Futaba said, getting her own.  
“How odd,” Makoto echoed from where she was, lifting her bracelet. “I feel like I’ve seen this before.”  
“Me too,” Ann said. “You want us to put it on, right?”  
“Please,” Mononeko said, covering his mouth. “Go ahead.”

Akira took a deep breath, and then clipped the bracelet on.

* * *

_ “Akira!” _

_ Souji caught up to him, wrapping an arm around the other’s waist. Akira elbowed him slightly, moving out of the way.  _

__ “Hey, c’mon.” Souji said, turning to him. They were both wearing a school uniform, but the logo felt blurry. “You’re going to hang out with me and Minato later, right?”  
__ “Sure,” Akira replied, hands in his pockets. “I was actually going to hang out with Akechi.”  
__ "Your boyfriend?” Minato asked, having suddenly appeared.  
_ “He’s not my boyfriend.” Akira said, and felt their eyes on him. “...Yet.”  
_ __ “That’s our Akira,” Souji said, wrapping an arm around him again. 

_ Minato laughed, earphones around his neck clattering as he moved. He tilted his head towards the sky, and Akira stopped, watching the other as he spoke. _

_ “Today’s probably going to be a nice day.” Minato said.  
_ _ “I agree,” Akira replied, all too easily. “Come on -- we’re going to be late for class.” _

_ Souji squeezed his waist gently, and pulled away, looking up at the sky. _

_ “Ah, the sun is hot today. Seriously,” Souji said. _ __  
_ “Don’t melt, Souji-kun,” Minato replied, headphones already pulled over his ears. “I can’t have a melting best friend.” _ __  
_ “I’m not going to melt.” _ __  
_ “He’s definitely going to melt,” Akira replied. _ __  
_ “Right?” Minato echoed, hands in his pockets. _ __  
_ “Why am I even friends with you guys?” Souji asked, then. “Yosuke wouldn’t do this to me.” _ __  
_ “Oh, no. Yosuke would absolutely do this to you.” Akira said, patting his back. “He wouldn’t treat you differently ‘cause he  _ **_likes_ ** _ you.” _ _  
_ __ “Yosuke doesn’t like me,” Souji said. “...Yet.”

_ Minato snorted, and Akira rolled his eyes. _

_ “What?” Souji asked. “What is it?” _ _  
_ _ “You’re kind of dumb, Souji.” Akira said, fond.  _

* * *

“Ah!” Minato snapped to attention, turning to Akira. “What was that…?”

Akira touched the band around his wrist, looking intently at the charm, and then met Minato’s eyes. Minato blinked at him, his own charm tinkling gently against his wrist, and then gave him a relaxed smile. He could feel Souji’s eyes on them, too.

“Well, if this guy is here,” the three of them said, “I’m sure we’ll be fine.”   
“Creepy,” Ann admitted, but her tone had relaxed from before.  
“Did you all get that?” Mononeko said, hands over his mouth as he laughed. “That’s your first memory.”  
“Our first...memory?” Makoto asked, hand still touching her head as the cat spoke. “What are you talking about…? We have other memories, too. We know each other…”   
“Aren’t you curious?” Mononeko asked. “What might come next?  _ How  _ you ragtag bag of children know each other?”   
“O-Of course,” the remaining blue haired boy said. “Why do we know each other?”   
“Naoto,” Souji said, eyes worried.   
“There has to be some reason -- !”   
“Of course there is.” Mononeko said, suddenly serious. “And all your answers lie in the bracelets on your wrists.”

The charm on Akira’s bracelet glinted again. 

“Of course, it won’t be that easy, though. Try and remove your bracelets.”  
“E-Eh…?” The girl in a pink sweater tugged at the bracelet, finding that the clasp that had connected it was now gone. “I can’t -- take it off.”  
“Yukari,” Ann said, and Akira turned to her, surprised. “What? You didn’t see the same thing as me?”   
“No.” Akira replied. “What did you see?”   
“Um...I was hanging out with Yukari, and this girl called Rise. But...Rise’s not here.”  
“Yeah, she’s not…” Souji said. “I don’t know where she is.”  
“It feels weird with the Investigation Team incomplete, huh,” the girl in a green jacket said.  
“No kidding,” the boy Akira now recognised as Yosuke said. “...What’s going on…? I just want to go home.”   
“You want to go home,” Mononeko pointed at Yosuke, “and you want to know more.” He turned to Naoto. “I know!”  
“You know?” Minato asked.  
“I know how we can solve both problems at once!”  
“Oh?” Akechi asked, finally speaking up. “How?”  
“Murder.”

A long silence broke out amongst the students, staring up at the stuffed cat on the podium. Mostly, they were in disbelief. Murder? What the hell could drive someone to murder someone over wanting to get out? Or getting information? 

Despite these thoughts, gazes were immediately moving to glance at the two - Yosuke and Naoto, the ones who mentioned this subject first.

“...What do you mean, murder?” Naoto said. “Do you think we’re idiots?”  
“Not at all! In fact, I think you’re some of the smartest students I’ve seen!” Mononeko replied, content. “And I’m sure you all can murder peacefully! However, there is a structure to this, so don’t think you can just get away with it.”  
“What makes you think we’ll be so willing to  _ mur  _ \-- “  
“Part one!” Mononeko stood up. “When three people have discovered the body, a body announcement will be made! In this announcement, you will be notified where the body is!”   
“Hang on -- “   
“Part two! You will then be allowed to investigate to find out who killed the victim!”  
“Wait -- “   
“Part three! After a set amount of time has passed, there will be a school trial. In that trial, you will determine who it was that killed the victim! If you find the guilty party, or blackened, they will be punished, and you can go on with your peaceful school life. But if you don’t…” Mononeko smiled. “Then, the rest of you will be punished, and the blackened will be able to leave this school with all the information that the rest of you currently hold.”

Shocked into silence, Naoto fell quiet. Akechi stepped up, then, going to stand beside Akira, who regarded him with unreadable eyes.

“Then...all we need to do is figure out who’s behind you.” he said, pointing at Mononeko.   
“Who’s behind me?” Mononeko asked. “What are you talking about?”   
“There’s no way you’re sentient. I can believe many things, but I don’t believe in the sentience of a talking cat.” Akechi lowered his arm. “There has to be someone behind you.”  
“Upupupu,” Mononeko said. “...Wouldn’t you know, Akechi-kun?”

Akechi flinched slightly, surprised at his words. Mononeko laughed, the tables lowering, and then rising again to reveal several tablets, spread across the span of the tables. 

“These are your Monopads.” he said. “You’ll find all the rest of the school rules there, along with a map of the campus! Please, take the one with your name on!”

Akira gently patted Akechi on the back, and he glared at him, pulling away to get his Monopad. It lit up with his name, and a small profile of his details. Sure enough, as Akechi scrolled through the menus, he found the rules, and the map, along with a guide to the charms he had on his bracelet. Judging by the blank spaces, he could collect up to ten other charms. Why this was important, he was still yet to know.

“I hope you all get along well!” Monocat said. “Then, I’ll see you later! Have a peaceful school life -- and remember, the only way out is down!”

And as quickly as he’d appeared, he’d disappeared, leaving the 16 people in the gym, shell shocked, and confused.


	2. a crime of passion - daily life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the gang goes exploring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, these few chapters are going to be a little...dialogue heavy. and i seriously apologise in advance orz. the chapters after this trial are going to be much less....exposition heavy, i promise.

**** “What the fuck just happened,” Ryuji said, blinking at the area that Mononeko had occupied. “Murder? Are you  _ kidding _ me? There’s no way we’re going to kill anyone!”   
“Right?” More voices were coming from the group with Minato, concerned. The person in question had a red vest, hands wrapped in bandages. “There’s no way!”  
“Look, there has to be another way out.” Naoto said. “How about we split up and look for a way out of here? There’s no way we’re resorting to murder to get out of here.”  
“Then I’ll go with Akechi,” Akira said, turning to the boy. Akechi glared at him. “Souji, Minato, want to come?”   
“Sure, but are you sure we won’t intrude?” Minato teased. “Let’s look at the map.”

Akira rolled his eyes at him, and then brought up the map, looking down at it. He traced a path with his finger, humming softly to himself.

“We’ll go to the main hall,” Akira said aloud. “C’mon. The faster we find a way out, the better.”   
“Why do I have to come with you,” Akechi replied under his breath, but followed along with them anyway.  
“Moody as ever, Akechi-san,” Souji said, catching up with the three of them. “Well, I’m sure we’ll find  _ something _ .”  
“I’m not too worried. Staying here can’t be that bad.” Minato replied. “I mean, I trust my friends not to kill anyone.”  
“I mean, I doubt any of my friends would kill anyone, too.” Souji said. “But it  _ would  _ be nice to get out of here. I’m sure Nanako is worried...”  
“I wonder what Morgana’s up to.” Akira mused.

Eventually, the four of them found the main hall, where they were presented with a huge gate, technical in its workings. Blue light shone from the gate, crowning the safe-like door with strange numbers that rotated around it. Akechi lifted a hand to touch it, only for Akira to bat his hand away.

“Hey, Akechi,” he said seriously. “Don’t just touch it!”  
“But what if it just swings open?” Akechi said. “Let me just -- “

As Akechi touched the gate, an alarm started to blare, red light spinning in circles above their head. Akira only gave Akechi a Look, staring at him like he was an idiot. Souji covered his ears -- and then a split second later, decided to cover Minato’s instead. Minato just looked confused.

“Hey, hey, hey! No touching!”

The now-familiar black and white cat popped up in front of them, tapping his rounded foot on the ground in anger. 

“Mononeko,” Akechi said. “No touching?”   
“Yes! Don’t touch that!” Mononeko said. “It’s very sensitive! And the next time you do it, you’ll get shot full of holes by the gatling gun!”  
“Gatling gun…?” Souji said, and then glanced up at the ceiling.

As the cat had said, there it was, metal glinting with the promise of absolute, certain death. He shivered. 

“Gatling gun, huh…” Akira mused, and then smiled. “I told you, Akechi.”   
“I didn’t know there was a safety mechanism.” Akechi replied.  
“Of course you didn’t! It just looks like a big gate out, right?!” Mononeko said. “It’s for safety! Your safety! You don’t want to go out there!”  
“It is our only way home,” Minato said. “Let me touch it.”  
“No, do you want to die?!” Mononeko yelled. “Don’t touch it!”

With those words of warning, the cat disappeared, as if by magic. Akira glanced over at the gate again, humming softly. This was the clear exit out, but there had to be more.

“Come on,” he said. “Since this is a no-go, we should try somewhere else.”

As they walked, Akechi caught up with Akira, holding onto the sleeve of his jacket. Curious, Akira glanced at him, tilting his head. 

"Yes, Akechi?" he asked, and Akechi stared at him.  
“Akira,” Akechi said. “What do you remember?”  
“With the charm?” Akira replied. “I just remembered meeting up with Minato and Souji.”  
“I see.” Akechi replied, eyes thoughtful. “Is that all?”  
“Yeah. What did you remember?”  
“Nothing much. I just remembered meeting some people, too.”

They arrived in the kitchen, then, looking around at the dining areas. 

“Looks nice,” Minato said.   
“If only we weren’t trapped here.” Souji replied. “Looks like there are a lot of windows, here, but we can’t get out from them.”  
“It’s all barred up.” Akechi said, touching the bars over the windows. “They really want us to stay here.”  
“Kind of scary,” Akira replied. “Like prisoners.”  
“Aren’t we all prisoners, though.” Minato said. “Prisoners to an unseen force controlling our every move. Does free will even exist?”  
“Okay, edgelord,” Souji said. “That’s enough.”  
“Sorry.”

Akechi touched the bars again. 

“It’s weird. You think they wouldn’t put bars on the windows. Why don’t they just pour concrete on the walls and totally block our view of the outside?” Akechi said. “I mean, I want to get out, but I can’t help but think giving us a limited view of the outside will do much for us wanting to stay.”  
“Don’t inspire them, Akechi.” Souji said. “Look...I guess this place is a no-go, too. Let’s try somewhere else.”  
“Good idea.”

The four of them set off again, instead coming across a staircase. Akira made his way up, only to find a large wall in his way. 

“Hey, this doesn’t go anywhere. Like, literally doesn’t go anywhere.” he called from the top of the staircase.  
“What do you mean ‘literally doesn’t go anywhere’?” Akechi called up to him.   
“I  _ mean  _ that there’s a huge wall in front of me. Like, it doesn’t go anywhere.” Akira knocked on the wall, hearing a hollow sound. “Oh, wait — it might go somewhere. But it doesn’t want to budge.”  
“There’s no way they’d build a staircase if it doesn’t go anywhere, right?” Minato said. “We’ll leave it for now, if there’s no way that wall can budge.”

As Akira headed down, he heard the sound of running feet, and suddenly the girl with the green jacket was there, panting from her running. 

“Chie?” Souji asked, concerned. “What’s wrong?”  
“Guys,” she said. “You really have to see this.”

* * *

Chie lead the four of them down a couple of hallways, and towards a strange glowing door. Akira’s brow automatically furrowed, worried.

“What’s this?” he asked.   
“Just open it,” Chie replied.

Complying, oddly, Akira opened the glowing door - and almost seconds later, they were transported into a strange hallway, echoing with what sounded like moans. 

“This is — !” Souji said, eyes widening. “But — “  
“Right…?” Chie asked, confused. “I didn’t think we’d encounter something like this here.”  
“What is this…?” Minato asked, touching the walls. They seemed solid. “Souji?”  
“Oh, it’s just...I’ve been here before. It’s a club in the red light district.”  
“You’ve been to the  _ red light district _ ?” Akira asked. “Souji, you naughty boy.”  
“No, it wasn’t for — ! It was just to check it out!” Souji said, flushing. “An’ I didn’t do anything!”  
“Sure, sure.”  
“That aside, what the hell is a club doing inside the school?” Chie asked. “I sent Ann and Ryuji into here earlier, but they haven’t come out yet.”  
“You don’t think they’re — “ Akechi began.   
“No, no. They would never think of each other in that way.” Akira replied. “Ann! Ryuji!”  
“Leader!” Ann called, distant. “Over here!”  
“Ah, there they are.” Akira replied. “Ann!”

Akira took Akechi’s hand, and Akechi jerked slightly, but didn’t let go yet. Akira winked at him. 

“Ann, we’re coming!” Akira yelled.   
“Don’t worry, there aren’t any monsters here!” Ann replied. “It’s just a maze!”  
“Anyone brought breadcrumbs?” Minato said, teasing.   
“They say if you hold onto the left side of a maze, you’ll eventually find the end.” Souji noted.   
“Oh, yeah! That’s how I found the exit.” Chie said.  
“Takes you a little while, though.” Akira replied. “Anything interesting here, Ann?”  
“Kind of!” Ryuji called. “I’m not with Ann, by the way!”  
“Where did you go, Ryuji?!” Ann yelled.   
“Bit loud,” Akira said, amused. “We’re coming!”  
“Your friends are weird, Kurusu.” Akechi pointed out. “But you’re pretty weird yourself.”  
“You’re my friend, too.” Akira said.   
“No he’s not.” Souji said.   
“Well, he’s kind of my friend.”  
“Can you guys not talk about me like I’m not here,” Akechi said, running a hand through his hair. 

Soon enough, they caught up with Ann, who now sported two charms on her wrist. Ann gave them a bright smile. 

“Where’d you get that?” Souji asked, taking her wrist gently to look at the charm.   
“That’s what I meant when I said we ‘kind of’ found something cool.” Ann said. “I think there’s a charm for everyone in here. This one is mine.” It was a small charm of a camera, shining as if it was flashing. “It’s like a reference to my modeling, right?”  
“Are you sure it’s yours?” Akira asked.  
“I mean, Mononeko showed up and told me that I’d get shocked if I tried to take anyone else’s.” Ann said. “So, you know.”  
“And you like, guessed?” Akira said. “Badass.”  
“Thanks?” Ann said, smiling. “Anyway, we should catch up to Ryuji.”  
“Good idea.”  
“I found mine!” Ryuji yelled.  
“After getting shocked a couple of times, no doubt…”

They continued to trace the left wall, following along the maze as they walked. Ann followed with them, Chie by her side. 

“So what did you guys find?” Souji asked, mostly to break the silence. “Were you guys just stuck here?”  
“Not really.” Chie said. “I mean, kinda? It wasn’t the first thing we looked at, that’s what I mean.”  
“Before this, we went to some classes.” Ann filled in. “The windows were barred, and the blackboard had some weird drawings on it.”  
“Weird drawings?” Minato asked. “What do you mean by that?”  
“I mean that someone had clearly been in here before us and drew some weird stuff on the blackboards.” Ann said. “It was kind of weird, but kind of cute, I guess? Lots of Mononeko fanart.”  
“I don’t know why anyone would want to draw fanart of that thing.” Chie said.  
“It’s kind of cute, though.”  
“It’s really not.”

They came across Ryuji, then, who waved at them, two charms on his bracelet. His second was a cute running shoe, bringing a smile to Akira’s face. Akechi glanced away.

“Hey, Ryuji.” Akira said, waving at him. “Did you get your second one?”   
“Yep!” Ryuji said. “I found yours too, Akira.”  
“Really? Wow, quick. Now I don’t have to look for it myself.”  
“Lazy,” Akechi said, and Akira laughed.   
“You’re just angry you don’t have anyone to find yours.”  
“I thought I saw yours on the way, Akechi,” Minato said.   
“And you didn’t mention it?” Akechi said, and followed Minato to find his.

Akira went over to his charm, gently touching it. No shock -- Ryuji was right. Easily, he picked the charm up, studying it. 

“Looks like a cat, right?” Ryuji said. “Go on, put it on.”  
“Yeah, it does look like a cat.” Akira replied, and then clicked it on.

 

* * *

 

_ "Morgana,” _

_ Akira turned to the cat sitting on his bed, tail swishing as the other spoke. Akira smiled, going over to sit next to him, petting his head gently. _

_ “Hi, Morgana.” he said. “It’s good to have you here with me.” _

_ Morgana meowed loudly, and pretty much climbed into his lap, stretching out.  _

_ “Yeah, yeah. I get it. You’re tired, right? Let’s go get a nap.” _

_ Morgana gave him a look. Akira laughed, scratching behind his ears gently. His tail swished, humming softly. _

_ “Are you sure about this?” he said. “Do you think I should?” _

_ Akira had been thinking about this for a while now. He wasn’t sure whether it was a good idea, but he knew, for sure, that it would make him happy, somehow. Morgana’s tail flicked against his hand, and he meowed.  _

_ “Okay, okay, I get it.” Akira laughed. “I’m glad you’re with me on this, then.” _

_ Morgana settled again, curling up and closing his eyes.  _

_ “Thanks, Mona. I don’t know what I’ll do without you.” _

 

* * *

 

“Welcome back,” Akechi said, holding a hand up to him. When had Akira fallen down?

He took Akechi’s hand, and pulled himself up, squeezing his palm softly as he did so. 

“Did you find yours?” Akira asked.   
“I did,” Akechi said, raising his bracelet to show the magnifying glass hanging off the charm. “What’d you remember?”   
“Just Morgana.” Akira smiled, then. “Souji, Minato, did you guys find yours?”  
“No, not yet, but it doesn’t really matter right now.” Minato said. “We should find the rest and bring them into here.”  
“Good idea.” Ann said. “I’ll go out with Chie and Ryuji and find the others.”  
“Then we’ll meet you back here.” Chie said. 

As Chie, Ryuji, and Ann left, Akechi turned to Minato and Souji, still holding onto Akira’s hand. The touch warmed Akira in a strange way.

“Souji, Minato,” Akechi said. “Is it okay if Akira and I leave as well?”   
“Oh, now you’re calling me Akira?” Akira said, a smile on his face.  
“Shut up.”  
“Sure,” Souji said, wiggling his eyebrows. “Do you two need to be alone?”   
“Let me know how it goes, Akira.” Minato said, waving at them.  
“Come on, you guys.” Akira whined, but let Akechi drag him off, anyway.

Akechi lead him all the way to the darkened stairway they’d passed earlier, stopping almost suddenly. Then, out of nowhere, Akira was up against the wall and Akechi had caged him in with his arms.

“...Akira,” he said. “What do you remember?”   
“You’re awfully close,” Akira breathed. “But what are you talking about?”  
“I’m asking what you remember.” Akechi said, leaning closer. “Do you remember anything else other than what you told the others?”   
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Akechi watched him, brown eyes almost glaring into his, and then he nodded, pulling away.

“...Okay.” he said softly. “Come on. Let’s go back.”

Akira watched as the other walked off, and then studied his bracelet as he did so. What was Akechi talking about…?

As they returned to the area with the maze, they found that Souji was still standing there, waiting for them.

“You haven’t found your charm yet?” Akechi asked.  
“Oh, I have. It’s just that Chie came in and told us all to meet at the cafeteria. I thought I’d stop to tell you guys.” Souji said. “Come on. We don’t want to keep them all waiting.”

The trek to the cafeteria was mostly kept in silence. Akechi was fiddling with his bracelet, tugging at it, as if trying to make it come off. 

“Souji,” Chie said, waving them over. Quickly, they hurried into the cafeteria, where everyone was currently sitting at.

Minato was taking a nap on the table, leaning comfortably. Yosuke was sitting next to him, watching.

“It’s weird how peaceful he is,” Yosuke said. “Like we’re not being trapped here against our will by some weird plush cat.”  
“Minato’s always been like that,” Souji replied, voice slightly fond. “He can pretty much sleep anywhere.”

Futaba had came over to Akira, holding onto his arm slightly.

“So,” Chie said. “What did we find?”  
“Souji, Minato, Akechi and I went to see that huge gate in the main hall.” Akira said. “We learned that if you touch you, you’ll get shot to pieces with the gatling gun poised right above your head.”  
“Lucky we didn’t, then.” the boy with the baseball cap said, shivering.  
“You were going to, Junpei.” Yukari said, eyes narrowed.   
“We also found a weird staircase that doesn’t lead anywhere.” Souji added. “Yet, we think.”  
“Yet?” the boy in the red sweatervest said. “...Strange…”  
“It’s hollow.” Minato mumbled.  
“You’re awake?!”  
“Well, Ann, Ryuji, and I found the maze.” Chie said. “And the classrooms. No signs of getting out there, but the maze has extra charms for all of us. I haven’t found mine yet, but it’s in there somewhere.”  
“Makoto, Futaba and I discovered that there is a door hidden in one of the hallways.” Naoto said. “You can’t open it, but it looks like it pops open somehow. With some internal mechanism, probably?”   
“I found a computer in the AV room,” Futaba said. “It’s out of power, though. If I could get it to turn on, surely there would be some way to hack the mainframe, or something.”  
“There’s an AV room here?” Ryuji asked. “Well, I guess this is a school…”  
“As for Akihiko, Yukiko, and I, we couldn’t really find much. However, there’s a garden in one of the lower rooms, that connects to somewhere outside.” Yosuke added. “As you can tell, the door that connects to outside is locked, of course. But the garden is in a glass room, so you can kind of see the outside. Kind of.”   
“I did try to break the glass.” the boy with the red sweatervest said. This was Akihiko. Probably. “It didn’t work.”  
“Good effort, though,” the girl that was probably Yukiko said.   
“Yeah, he threw like eight things at it.” Yosuke nodded. “It was kind of impressive.”  
“Finally, Junpei, Aigis, and I searched downstairs.” Yukari said. “There’s a boiler room down there, but not much else.”   
“It was quite warm,” the blonde girl -- she  _ had  _ to be Aigis -- said. “Comfortable.”  
“Yeah, I could’ve stayed down there forever.” Junpei said.  
“But we didn’t.” Yukari continued. “After a bit more looking around downstairs, we found a hallway that leads to some dorms. They were all labeled with our names and everything. It was pretty comfortable.”  
“I guess that’s where we’re going to be staying for this time, then.” Minato said. “Sounds comfy enough.”

Yosuke stood up, sighing loudly.

“...How are you all...okay with this?” Yosuke asked. “Like...seriously…? How are you all so  _ okay  _ with staying here in this strange school?”   
“I mean…” Naoto said, “there’s not much else we can do for now. If there was any exit, we would take it -- but it seems that the only exits we can find require prerequisites.”  
“Yeah.” Akechi echoed. “...Murder.”  
“No one here’s going to kill someone else.” Akihiko said. “That we know for certain.”  
“Yeah!” Chie said. “There’s no way!”  
“So...until we can figure out what else triggers that door to open, or for the staircase to be unblocked, we have to stay here.” Naoto said.  
“...I think,” Akira said, then, “that it would be a good idea to set some ground rules.”  
“Ground rules?” Makoto asked.  
“Yeah, just so...we can trust each other. No offense, Souji and Minato’s friends, but...I’m not sure about you guys.” Akira said. “...Let’s meet up here every morning. And...don’t go out during the night.”  
“Don’t go out during the night?” Minato said. “It sounds reasonable…”  
“Yeah,” Souji said. “Yeah, let’s stick to that, at least for now. We know we won’t murder anyone, but this way, we’re sure.”

Akira gave Souji and Minato a smile, happy that they’d agreed.

“It’s late,” Akihiko said, standing up. “We better get to bed.”  
“Yeah, good idea. Maybe tomorrow we can go through some of the rules on this thing.” Yukari tapped the Monopad. “I skimmed it, but not a lot of it makes sense.”  
“Sounds good. Goodnight, everyone.”

As everyone dispersed to their respective dorms, they would have no idea what they were going to be encountering these next couple of days.


End file.
